Issue 065

August 2010

Combat sports have a long history of iconic men (and occasionally women) with microphones who introduce fans to the action. It’s a tradition that MMA has happily carried on, and thanks to their frequent appearances (the big name announcers are routinely onscreen six or seven times per show) they are among the more recognizable faces (and of course, voices) in the sport. The best of them also do a vital job of building up the drama and expectation for big fights. This month, Andrew Garvey salutes five of the very finest. 

1 Bruce Buffer (UFC)

The ‘veteran voice of the Octagon’ and a constant presence since UFC 13 (in May 1997), 53-year-old Buffer is a decorated martial artist and very successful poker player. He’s also the grandson of 1920s world bantamweight boxing champion Johnny Buff. Getting his UFC break when brother Michael (who Bruce manages) had to choose between the fledgling craze of MMA and the clown-show wrestling outfit WCW, Bruce is now as much a part of a UFC event as the Octagon, Dana White’s Twitter updates, or that bloke in the gladiator costume during the TV intro video. A man with a flair for showmanship, a genuinely wild enthusiasm for the sport and – of course – that famed Buffer 180, he’s the most recognizable MMA announcer in the world and easily the most infectiously likeable.  

2 Jimmy Lennon, Jr (Strikeforce, previously EliteXC)

A 25-year veteran of ring announcing, the immaculately turned out, forever young-looking, crisply enunciating Lennon may as well have been born bellowing into a microphone. Young Jimmy grew up watching his dad, Jimmy Sr, announcing both boxing and wrestling on TV and at Los Angeles’ Olympic Auditorium. Starting out announcing undercards while his old man dealt with the main events, Lennon is now one of the more recognizable faces and voices in combat sports. Directly employed by US TV channel Showtime, Lennon announces mostly (but not exclusively) for them, and his “It’s Showtime!” catchphrase can currently be heard on their boxing and Strikeforce shows. 

3 Lenne Hardt (Dream)

The most distinctively voiced (and for years, the least-seen) ring announcer in the business, Hardt has been a staple of Japanese MMA for a decade. Alaskan by birth, Hardt is fluent in Japanese and lives and works in Tokyo as a voice actor in animated films and video games. She also has a background in stage acting and singing, but is best known to MMA fans for her utterly unique, wildly elongated and screeching introductions (fans nicknamed her ‘Crazy Pride Lady’). Check out her numerous Pride appearances, and particularly her screaming out the names Antonio Rodrigo ‘Minotauro’ Nogueira and Fedor Emelianenko. 

4 Joe Martinez (WEC)

Martinez has been announcing sporting events since 1996 and, for the last three years, was the in-cage voice of the WEC. He is a regular ring announcer for boxing’s Golden Boy Promotions and also handles voice duties for minor league Californian baseball team, Lake Elsinore Storm (where he started his announcing career). Fluent in both English and Spanish, Martinez (who started announcing boxing ten years ago) has worked in the US and Mexico and even toured with basketball / variety show, the Harlem Globetrotters. Boasting truly classic delivery and impeccable pronunciation of the often Scrabble-tastic names that litter WEC cards, Martinez is one of the very best MMA ring or cage announcers, but recently announced that due to family commitments he could no longer fulfill his role with the WEC. 

5 Ian Freeman (M-1 Challenge) 

Figurehead for the very magazine that you are holding, Sunderland-born Ian Freeman has always been at home in the ring so it was little surprise when he decided to turn his retirement years (and respected name) to announcing. Starting on small shows across the UK (such as Strike & Submit, where he still MC’s) Freeman’s smooth microphone manner soon caught the attention of European MMA organization M-1, and he signed on to announce their global Challenge series. As evidence of the man’s abilities, he was chosen as the announcer for the exhibition match organized by M-1 between the Russian heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko and the diminutive Japanese grappler Shinya Aoki in April 2009.